Amazon Prime Edition - Moto G5 Plus Questions & Answers

Is the version from Amazon with ads able to be rooted and rom'd to get rid of the annoying bloat? I'd love to save $60 but I don't want to deal with the advertisements and especially being unable to root/unlock/rom is a non starter.
TIA!

The bootloader cannot be unlocked currently and thus cannot be rooted. It will likely be a long time (if ever) before Amazon provides a method for unlocking the bootloader for it's version.

No.
Enviado desde mi XT1681 mediante Tapatalk

jolness1 said:
Is the version from Amazon with ads able to be rooted and rom'd to get rid of the annoying bloat? I'd love to save $60 but I don't want to deal with the advertisements and especially being unable to root/unlock/rom is a non starter.
TIA!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can get rid of ads and maybe root later on, but bootloader can't be unlocked so no custom roms, as someone who owns one i recommend not buying just isn't worth the saving

I figured as much, I didn't think Amazon would leave it open but I wasn't sure.
Definitely not worth saving $60 to lose all the functionality plus adding ads.
I wish the 32gb in the US came with 3gb of RAM but that would probably cannibalize the sales of the 64gb one. I have a Nexus 5x worth 2gb and it isn't quite enough, my girlfriend wants to switch to Android from an iPhone 5s but as cheaply as possible, looks like the $300 g5 is my best option for now.

jolness1 said:
I figured as much, I didn't think Amazon would leave it open but I wasn't sure.
Definitely not worth saving $60 to lose all the functionality plus adding ads.
I wish the 32gb in the US came with 3gb of RAM but that would probably cannibalize the sales of the 64gb one. I have a Nexus 5x worth 2gb and it isn't quite enough, my girlfriend wants to switch to Android from an iPhone 5s but as cheaply as possible, looks like the $300 g5 is my best option for now.
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if that's the case she would probably not need root or custom roms so maybe should go amz, u can remove the ads like i said, but then again who knows what will happen after update...

I want to custom rom it to add little things like one handed mode etc.
Not essential but definitely important enough to be worth $60 even without the ads.

Mods please delete

Why delete? You just saved me the headache of going with the Amazon variant. I'm going to save up the additional $60 and buy the fully unlocked version because of this thread. This is the only place that I found a definitive answer about whether or mot the Amazon variant bootloader could be unlocked. Thanks!

krison01 said:
can get rid of ads and maybe root later on, but bootloader can't be unlocked so no custom roms, as someone who owns one i recommend not buying just isn't worth the saving
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Click to collapse
I completely agree. I got the Amazon version as I was hard up and my old phone just quit sudednly on me but I should have waited and spent the extra 60$. The adds aren't obtrusive but I miss the things that are possible with a rooted phone.
I'll probably try to pawn it off on one of my older family members that don't appriciate a rooted phone anyway and get myself the same phone without the adds.

jolness1 said:
I want to custom rom it to add little things like one handed mode etc.
Not essential but definitely important enough to be worth $60 even without the ads.
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Click to collapse
Sounds like for what you want, the standard is best, but I also want to quickly point out that Moto Actions has the screen shrink feature built in for one handed mode and the default keyboard GBoard has one handed support built in as well.

Gword256 said:
I completely agree. I got the Amazon version as I was hard up and my old phone just quit sudednly on me but I should have waited and spent the extra 60$. The adds aren't obtrusive but I miss the things that are possible with a rooted phone.
I'll probably try to pawn it off on one of my older family members that don't appriciate a rooted phone anyway and get myself the same phone without the adds.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
brilliant i might do the same actually :laugh:

Related

Do you think that the Tubro will get rooted and unlocked?

Just decided to get the Turbo since the N6 is taking way too long to get released on Verizon. The black friday deals helped me get the phone for $50 today so I could not resist that deal for top of the line hardware.
What I am wondering though is what the community thinks about developer support for this phone? Do you think the bootloader will be unlocked? Do you think there will be root access?
If both of those are obtained do you think there will even be enough support for the phone to have some fun with ROMs? Honestly the only thing that I want to get my phone unlocked and rooted for is to get rid of all the bloatware that verizon put on my phone. The ONLY reason. The OS is stock enough for me already but I want to get rid of all those crappy red apps along with all these amazon promotions...
So what do you think? Is it possible to get rid of the bloatware without rooting or unlocking?
hfcobra said:
Just decided to get the Turbo since the N6 is taking way too long to get released on Verizon. The black friday deals helped me get the phone for $50 today so I could not resist that deal for top of the line hardware.
What I am wondering though is what the community thinks about developer support for this phone? Do you think the bootloader will be unlocked? Do you think there will be root access?
If both of those are obtained do you think there will even be enough support for the phone to have some fun with ROMs? Honestly the only thing that I want to get my phone unlocked and rooted for is to get rid of all the bloatware that verizon put on my phone. The ONLY reason. The OS is stock enough for me already but I want to get rid of all those crappy red apps along with all these amazon promotions...
So what do you think? Is it possible to get rid of the bloatware without rooting or unlocking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disabling apps seems to work just as well as Titanium Backup. The only real difference I can think of is that the apps are not deleted from your phone, so while being able to remove bloat without root, it appears we still cant gain the used storage space back.
Here is a useful guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/droid-turbo/general/guide-how-to-disable-verizon-apps-droid-t2948849
hfcobra said:
Just decided to get the Turbo since the N6 is taking way too long to get released on Verizon. The black friday deals helped me get the phone for $50 today so I could not resist that deal for top of the line hardware.
What I am wondering though is what the community thinks about developer support for this phone? Do you think the bootloader will be unlocked? Do you think there will be root access?
If both of those are obtained do you think there will even be enough support for the phone to have some fun with ROMs? Honestly the only thing that I want to get my phone unlocked and rooted for is to get rid of all the bloatware that verizon put on my phone. The ONLY reason. The OS is stock enough for me already but I want to get rid of all those crappy red apps along with all these amazon promotions...
So what do you think? Is it possible to get rid of the bloatware without rooting or unlocking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Disabling apps is a good option without root. Hard to say about root or BL unlock. Right now its seems extremely unlikely it will happen any time in the near future. Only hope is that the Moto Maxx will get a developer following which is close enough to Turbo.
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app
coreywallen said:
Disabling apps is a good option without root. Hard to say about root or BL unlock. Right now its seems extremely unlikely it will happen any time in the near future. Only hope is that the Moto Maxx will get a developer following which is close enough to Turbo.
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have this thought in the back of my head that the Moto Maxx and its unlocked bootloader will help us obtain root and bl unlock on the turbo. Its literally the exact same phone, I feel devs may have enough freedom to play around with the files of the Maxx, and find some similarities and exploits usable on the Turbo. Just my thought. Its the same phone and with supported unlock. Its so close to our turbos.
We might get root, and probably will at some point down the road. I doubt we will ever get an unlocked bootloader. The work that goes into doing that is very substantial, and with this being an exclusive device, is very unlikely.
Question for the OP.... why wouldn't you just buy the Nexus 6 straight from Google? Why is everyone talking about having to wait for Verizon to get it? But it from Google, and activate it on your account. Simple as that.
pjcforpres said:
We might get root, and probably will at some point down the road. I doubt we will ever get an unlocked bootloader. The work that goes into doing that is very substantial, and with this being an exclusive device, is very unlikely.
Question for the OP.... why wouldn't you just buy the Nexus 6 straight from Google? Why is everyone talking about having to wait for Verizon to get it? But it from Google, and activate it on your account. Simple as that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried getting it from the Play store? lol. It's like hoping to win the lottery, except you have to play all the time, every second of the day.
if no devs working on Droid turbo.we will never ever see bl unlocked or root
like happens with Droid maxx
I'm on an old contract with a family plan and we pay $100 for the plan and $30 per smartphone. From how I understand it the plan does not make you pay for the phone over time. When you upgrade you just get that money off. So I'd be paying $400 extra for the Nexus than I'd have to.
pjcforpres said:
We might get root, and probably will at some point down the road. I doubt we will ever get an unlocked bootloader. The work that goes into doing that is very substantial, and with this being an exclusive device, is very unlikely.
Question for the OP.... why wouldn't you just buy the Nexus 6 straight from Google? Why is everyone talking about having to wait for Verizon to get it? But it from Google, and activate it on your account. Simple as that.
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Click to collapse
Plus the deals they had today were just TOO good. $200 off a turbo? I couldv'e "bought" the 32gb version for free.
Don't get me wrong. I love the phone. Easily the best 5.2in phone out there. I just want to root to help battery even more and help get rid of apps I don't use while adding a few features I will.
I too jumped on the 64gb turbo yesterday. After trading in my OG Droid for $100 off the phone cost $60 after tax.. Comparing this to the N6 isn't fair.. The N6 is huge. As much as I want Nexus, and all that cones with that I just can't use a 6" phone on a daily basis..
lazarus2297 said:
I too jumped on the 64gb turbo yesterday. After trading in my OG Droid for $100 off the phone cost $60 after tax.. Comparing this to the N6 isn't fair.. The N6 is huge. As much as I want Nexus, and all that cones with that I just can't use a 6" phone on a daily basis..
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Click to collapse
I was really excited for the N6 since it was first announced. Being 6'5" I was sure I'd love it. Went to the store the other day and I just couldn't shake how silly it looked in my hands. Such an enourmouse device. Screen was amazing though. I wish it was 5.7" and the same shape. Then it would be slightly smaller than the Note 4 since it makes better use of screen size efficiency. That would have been perfect IMO.
Now I'm hoping the turbo gets the Dev support it needs so I have the best of both worlds!
hfcobra said:
Plus the deals they had today were just TOO good. $200 off a turbo? I couldv'e "bought" the 32gb version for free.
Don't get me wrong. I love the phone. Easily the best 5.2in phone out there. I just want to root to help battery even more and help get rid of apps I don't use while adding a few features I will.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get taking advantage of discounts / contracts. I was just saying, I see a bunch of people saying they can't wait any longer for the Nexus to come out on Verizon, when you can already get it from Google or eBay, or Amazon... and use it with Verizon. Heck, you can but it from T-Mobile, and use it with Verizon. And was wondering why people keep saying they can't wait any longer for Verizon to carry it, when that has no impact on it working with their network, and only impacts getting it either at a 2yr agreement price / spreading payments out over 2 years.
pjcforpres said:
I get taking advantage of discounts / contracts. I was just saying, I see a bunch of people saying they can't wait any longer for the Nexus to come out on Verizon, when you can already get it from Google or eBay, or Amazon... and use it with Verizon. Heck, you can but it from T-Mobile, and use it with Verizon. And was wondering why people keep saying they can't wait any longer for Verizon to carry it, when that has no impact on it working with their network, and only impacts getting it either at a 2yr agreement price / spreading payments out over 2 years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if you're lucky it may be covered with Verizon logos and full of bloatware with a locked boot loader! We love you Verizon and all the things you do for us!
Sent from my XT1254 using XDA Free mobile app

just a rant

My insurance replaced my wet v20 with this phone. I really like it. However why in the hell do Samsung & att find it necessary to add so much bloated crap?? I want to stop rooting but I these types of annoyances hinder me from buying any Samsung phones and make it NECESSARY to root the phone.
Don't even get me started on TouchWiz.
Stop buying carrier branded phones, you know they're going to have this crap so why do it?
You can get Package Disabler from the play store.
It gives you the ability to disable lot of the Bloatware crap that is installed. And no root needed.
But, first thing to disable is a package called "DT Ignite". If you don't disable that one first, then a lot of other apps you disable will automatic download and update as soon you disable them.
Mobile Strike, Slacker Radio, some other stupid games, all get pushed to my Verizon S7 Edge with that enabled.
peachpuff said:
Stop buying carrier branded phones, you know they're going to have this crap so why do it?
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Click to collapse
I agree, but I dont use credit card and wont drop that kind of money instantly on a device. I usually pay it off in a year. But I totally agree. I used to buy Nexus phones, but whatever Googs is doing with the Nexus brand, I couldnt wait. The Edge isnt a bad phone, if not gimmicky. I just hate both ATT and Sammy because of all of the **** they add.
joe.skelly said:
You can get Package Disabler from the play store.
It gives you the ability to disable lot of the Bloatware crap that is installed. And no root needed.
But, first thing to disable is a package called "DT Ignite". If you don't disable that one first, then a lot of other apps you disable will automatic download and update as soon you disable them.
Mobile Strike, Slacker Radio, some other stupid games, all get pushed to my Verizon S7 Edge with that enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I manually went through everything and disabled it. I am going to root, as Sammy phones seem pretty easy to root and just install a custom rom. Currently I am researching the root method and want to ensure that there is a back-to-stock unroot method in case of emergency warranty work.
cwis said:
I agree, but I dont use credit card and wont drop that kind of money instantly on a device. I usually pay it off in a year. But I totally agree. I used to buy Nexus phones, but whatever Googs is doing with the Nexus brand, I couldnt wait. The Edge isnt a bad phone, if not gimmicky. I just hate both ATT and Sammy because of all of the **** they add.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get a credit account at AMAZON and pay with no interest for 12 months. This gives you the option to buy any phone - spread payments out over a year and not pay any interest. Just a thought.
mocsab said:
You can get a credit account at AMAZON and pay with no interest for 12 months. This gives you the option to buy any phone - spread payments out over a year and not pay any interest. Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My credit is not the best right now and I dont want to add extra expenses because II'm adding a wing to my home and making some upgrades. My wife/accountant says no phone fun for a year, so I am stuck for a year. I'm already going through Nexus withdrawal LOL
cwis said:
My credit is not the best right now and I dont want to add extra expenses because II'm adding a wing to my home and making some upgrades. My wife/accountant says no phone fun for a year, so I am stuck for a year. I'm already going through Nexus withdrawal LOL
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Been there - done that. Good Luck

OK, I screwed up buying the Amazon Prime E4. What's the best I can do?

I'm upset that I wasn't told the bootloader was locked when I bought it. It only seems fair to disable the ads, per this thread:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3631406
But what else can I do to customize this (otherwise OK) phone? I've unlocked the Dev mode, disabled/uninstalled some bloatware. Everything else I know how to do requires root, so no Xposed, Titanium, or Tasker. Still feeling cheated -- I researched enough to know to avoid the Verizon one, but I didn't expect Amazon to lock the bootloader.
Any suggestions?
You can return it to Amazon if you want, just tell them it has ghost touch issues (two of mine did) or that the fingerprint sensor doesn't work for apps (most apps don't use the way it does it).
Thanks, nice to know I have that option!
send it back and buy the no ads model. best buy also has the unlocked models on sale.
Can you confirm the no-ads model has an unlocked bootloader?
The sources I saw simply said that Verizon (and now Amazon) were the only vendors to request that moto NOT provide unlocking codes.
docwebhead said:
Can you confirm the no-ads model has an unlocked bootloader?
The sources I saw simply said that Verizon (and now Amazon) were the only vendors to request that moto NOT provide unlocking codes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the no ads model has an UNLOCKABLE bootloader.
Thanks much!
A few notes to answer my own question: I have found some hidden apps exposed by AnyCut, including the Marshmallow Easter Egg (yep, on a Nougat phone), a Wifi calling toggle (that won't work), Testing menu, IMEI/serials lister, and some CDMA and IP network options. Still pretty dismal, in other words.
Not a bad phone, though, especially for the price. It just seems creepy to try adb and be told "insufficient permissions..."
docwebhead said:
Not a bad phone, though, especially for the price. It just seems creepy to try adb and be told "insufficient permissions..."
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Click to collapse
you sure? I have the $99 amazon ads version and ADB works fine. used it to disable the ads. I pay amazon enough money so I really do not feel bad about it...
Hmmm, now you mention it, that's how I killed the ads, also.
Hasn't been working lately, though.
I have updates turned off, I wonder what has changed?
Thanks for the info, I'll have to look into it.
And roger on the not feeling bad.

Which G6 is Amazon Prime offering? Missing any features?

I'm sure by now anyone with an Amazon Prime account has seen the advertisements for the $399.99 LG G6 and G6+ which is a great deal, and it's enough of one that I'm getting ready to retire my iPhone SE and make the switch over...especially since I can lengthen the warranty to two years total. What I cannot find out is which version Amazon is selling when it's released November 9th, 2017 and if T-Mobile and/or AT&T users will still have the normal functions like WiFi calling (which I rely upon) and VoLTE on each respective carrier. I'd rather not buy a Prime device only to discover that it doesn't have the same features as a carrier-specific device has and this has me worried. Buying a brand new unlocked G6 would give me the two years of full warranty on the device and hopefully all of the T-Mobile features offered on the carrier-specific model even if the bootloader isn't unlocked. Heck, I'd attempt a FlashFire to get new firmware onto the phone if it were made possible just to regain WiFi Calling/VoLTE but wanted input from others before I decide to go this route. I'm also not opposed to grabbing something like the LG V20 from BHPhotoVideo as well since this is the route I want to go. If you guys have any knowledge that I haven't been able to figure out in the last week of research I'd appreciate it very much. Cheers.
They go in depth with this story,not sure if it helps at all.
That's one of the articles I managed to find, and it did help out in figuring out which phone I wanted to invest in but I didn't get much more info on the device itself. Because it's an Amazon device we already know that it's not going to be able to have an unlocked bootloader which really stinks but that's the cost of buying a subsidized phone through Amazon. I considered just buying the LG V20 through BHPhotoVideo for cheaper so there are no integrated Amazon advertisements and it has a better internal camera (as far as specs go) but having 12MP+12MP vs 16MP is a little too close of a call to make any kind of speculation, although having 64GB of storage with the V20 would be nicer than the included 32GB in the LG G6. At least we have a micro-SD slot to have more storage in both models, which means that if we can get the phone rooted then App2SD won't be a problem.
I just know I'm ready to retire and sell this crappy iPhone SE and move away from the insane Apple prices to get a better device with a less restrictive environment. My only hope is that the LG G6 has the same characteristics as my iPhone SE, such as WiFi calling and VoLTE. I know it has all of the right LTE bands so that won't be an issue, and later on I'll probably just give Amazon more money to ditch the advertisements. I just wish that I could find a $450 LG G6 brand new that I could unlock the bootloader on, and that's my conundrum. It seems that if you want the subsized Prime version it's only $399 but if you want an subside-free G6 you still have to shell out $200 more.
P.S. Thanks for the quick response.
im already planning on getting this but i wont be able till at least black friday at the earliest. it fills all my needs now that the U11+ wont be available in the US. the model number for the 6+ is LGUS997U so im hoping that rooting will be possible along with custom ROMs. l hope someone else takes the plunge first.
droidbot1337 said:
im already planning on getting this but i wont be able till at least black friday at the earliest. it fills all my needs now that the U11+ wont be available in the US. the model number for the 6+ is LGUS997U so im hoping that rooting will be possible along with custom ROMs. l hope someone else takes the plunge first.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm taking the plunge and it'll be here the day of release. Knowing Amazon's history with locking bootloaders it's already pretty apparent that unlocking it will not be a possibility but will still check irregardless in hopes that I'm wrong. At least I hope it can be rooted some how and figure out how to ditch all of the bogus Amazon advertisements without paying them another $50 to remove them from my device, and will report all of that information that I can find out on my own as well. The LG V20 directly from T-Mobile was my original go-to replacement but for the same amount of money I'd rather have the slightly faster LG G6 even if it is hampered by Amazon's crap. Considering I'm moving up from an iPhone SE this thing is going to be a massive upgrade.
EDIT: I've independently confirmed it will indeed have T-Mobile WiFi calling and VoLTE built into the firmware because Amazon did the same thing with the Moto G5s firmware that they molested. They might have injected it with Amazon bloatware but they did also include WiFi calling and VoLTE from each of the providers so there's a very strong chance anyone who uses this device on their home network will still have those features included with the LG line of phones.
bmurphr1 said:
I'm taking the plunge and it'll be here the day of release...........
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Click to collapse
YES!!!! im so envious of you!! i hope that they can be unlocked as the price is just far too tempting. im going to try and contact LG USA and see what i can get from them. good luck and please keep us informed, cheers!!
I'm looking at the LG G6 also. I've been a Nexus user and am still using the N5X. Now that Google has went overboard with their pricing and are no longer making any devices that are good values, I'm looking elsewhere. I've always been an LG fan. I'm looking at the LG G6 as the price on it is excellent. There are a good number of carrier unlocked devices available for just over $400 and I think we will see some good sales between Black Friday and New Year's.
I was also considering the Amazon version but I'm not sure how difficult it will be to get rid of them afterwards.
gorilla p said:
....I was also considering the Amazon version but I'm not sure how difficult it will be to get rid of them afterwards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
?? all it has is a few bloat apps but all you would need to do is flash another ROM. thats considering it can be rooted. im still debating on the 6+ or waiting for the HTC U12 which should be better than the U11+ or at least i hope.
Phone has arrived, is model US966, and even though is the international model still has VoLTE and WiFi Calling baked into the ROM. I've verified that it does indeed work as it should for T-Mobile as I have the Hanset + WiFi logo in my top left notification tray. So far it seems Amazon really did make this device into the most universal of all of the LG G6 devices that exist (aside from being unable to unlock the bootloader.
Amazon really put this firmware through the ringer..it does have mountains of bloatware that we can work around, but it works with T-Mobile WiFi Calling, VoLTE, and HD Voice (all confirmed by moving a dead zone in my house where I received full WiFI but could not obtain any indoor signal of any kind. I had several conversations that all sounded like I was standing right next to the person, and I had no cellular service at the time the call was made. Just as I suspected, they molested the G6 just like they did the Moto G5s into forcing it to support T-Mobile's feature sets and most likely the same for the other three providers as well.
bmurphr1 said:
Phone has arrived, is model US966, and even though is the international model still has VoLTE and WiFi Calling baked into the ROM. I've verified that it does indeed work as it should for T-Mobile as I have the Hanset + WiFi logo in my top left notification tray. So far it seems Amazon really did make this device into the most universal of all of the LG G6 devices that exist (aside from being unable to unlock the bootloader.
Amazon really put this firmware through the ringer..it does have mountains of bloatware that we can work around, but it works with T-Mobile WiFi Calling, VoLTE, and HD Voice (all confirmed by moving a dead zone in my house where I received full WiFI but could not obtain any indoor signal of any kind. I had several conversations that all sounded like I was standing right next to the person, and I had no cellular service at the time the call was made. Just as I suspected, they molested the G6 just like they did the Moto G5s into forcing it to support T-Mobile's feature sets and most likely the same for the other three providers as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know if it's possible to pay to remove the lockscreen ads? Also, are the ads just on the lockscreen or do they show up in other places?
I know you can pay to remove Kindle ads at https://www.amazon.com/mn/dcw/myx.html
Joe USer said:
Do you know if it's possible to pay to remove the lockscreen ads? Also, are the ads just on the lockscreen or do they show up in other places?
I know you can pay to remove Kindle ads at https://www.amazon.com/mn/dcw/myx.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ads are on lockscreen and on the desktop, but the desktop widget no problem. When you unlock the device using your fingerprint though you never see the advertisements so it's not bothering me that much. I have yet to figure out if we can purchase the removal of advertisements though as I've only had these few short hours with the device, but every T-Mo function that you'd find on a carrier-branded device works on the Amazon Prime variant. If I can pay an extra $50 or so to get rid of the advertisements I probably will do just that.
In the mean time I tried to sign up for the second year of the LG G6 free warranty program, and since the phone is a US996 model device you can't complete the registration page. I e-mailed the help desk to see if we'll be able to register for the free second year of service as an Amazon agent said that there should be no reason that it shouldn't work. I will respond back once I get word from the LG team regarding the additional free year of warranty coverage.
EDIT: You can legitimately remove ads from the phone through Amazon but they want an extra $100 to just remove them. I'll wait on someone else to figure out how to hack the ads away from the firmware. I dig the LG interface though as it's similar to the iPhone layout and makes it easier for me to understand rather than having an app drawer like my Fire tablet does. The phone is definitely worth $399...not $499 though once you buy the removal of advertisements.
congrats @bmurphr1!! im happy it works well since like you i too am a tmo user. also, the model number is listed as 997U but you said its US996, is that right? anyway, i hope the bootloader can soon be unlocked because that would make this phone an amazing device.
droidbot1337 said:
congrats @bmurphr1!! im happy it works well since like you i too am a tmo user. also, the model number is listed as 997U but you said its US996, is that right? anyway, i hope the bootloader can soon be unlocked because that would make this phone an amazing device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did, but it's actually US997 according to what I'm looking at right now on the Hardware info screen. My initial statement was a typo because I was in a rush to get this phone up and running since I'm moving over from the iOS world. Model number is confirmed US997 and the bootloader from what I've been able to ascertain so far is that LG is not unlocking the bootloader for the phone because they were strong-armed by Amazon to lock it down so that it couldn't be altered in any way - thus making people pay the $100 just to have advertisements removed from the device.
bmurphr1 said:
I did, but it's actually US997 according to what I'm looking at right now on the Hardware info screen. My initial statement was a typo because I was in a rush to get this phone up and running since I'm moving over from the iOS world. Model number is confirmed US997 and the bootloader from what I've been able to ascertain so far is that LG is not unlocking the bootloader for the phone because they were strong-armed by Amazon to lock it down so that it couldn't be altered in any way - thus making people pay the $100 just to have advertisements removed from the device.
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Click to collapse
ugh!!... so its useless for those of us that want custom ROMs then? that sucks! i really hope someone finds a way to unlock it. i might just wait to see what the HTC u12 looks like. thanks for the info.
Just figured out how Amazon neutered this phone from being tampered with by individuals like us...they went and jacked around with the bootloader so that it freezes as soon as you boot into it. I'm very experienced when it comes to using fastboot on Android devices and I can tell you this bootloader has been tampered with. What happens is when you run "adb reboot bootloader" it reboots into the neutered bootloader and just freezes so that no commands can be sent or received from the device. If we could get the device-id then we could put it through the LG database, but Amazon found a way to mess with it just enough so that it crashes every single time you try to boot into it using the Android debugging bridge. That's how they crippled this phone so that no one would be able to flash new firmwares to the device or jack with it and remove their new found glory in LG devices. I'd love to be able to flash a non-Amazon bootloader only over to this phone to see if I could unlock it and catch on to something new but I'm too afraid to jeopardize my only working cell phone at the moment so I'd be worried about doing that. If the bootloader would unfreeze though and give us the code for a full bootloader unlock we could say byebye to the entire firmware OS and switch over to something like Lineage or better...assuming somebody has a kitchen that would work on an Amazon-molested US997 LG G6.
droidbot1337 said:
ugh!!... so its useless for those of us that want custom ROMs then? that sucks! i really hope someone finds a way to unlock it. i might just wait to see what the HTC u12 looks like. thanks for the info.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw this on the latest Amazon Fire tablet and that's why I returned it. Now you see why I was hesitant.
I'm having a hard time deciding now, but I'm going there will be some solid $399 deals between Black Friday and Christmas. Otherwise, I might just get a OnePlus 3T.
gorilla p said:
I saw this on the latest Amazon Fire tablet and that's why I returned it. Now you see why I was hesitant.
I'm having a hard time deciding now, but I'm going there will be some solid $399 deals between Black Friday and Christmas. Otherwise, I might just get a OnePlus 3T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Amazon got smart and neutered all of their Prime-branded devices so that they can't be bootloader unlocked any longer. The only hope we have of actually achieving custom firmware on this device is by using something like FlashFire to perform a hot-flash on the device to move it to a non-Amazon firmware, which is what I did on my Fire 2015 (Ford) tablet that I still use occasionally at the gym to watch Netflix and YouTube when I steal their WiFi. If you wanted to buy the phone just to unlock the bootloader unfortunately you're SOL, but there's still a chance something could be in the works for this device.
Honestly, I'd rather see either a complete removal of the advertisements from the stock US997 Amazon Prime G6 or someone who was able to successfully flash a ZIP file using FlashFire to the G6 without completely killing it along with WiFi Calling/VoLTE/HD Voice. The first one isn't out of the realm of possibility, but the second one is just a pipe dream since I essentially require WiFi calling and VoLTE. We're gonna need to find a way to root this firmware and I haven't found a way to do so as of yet, though it is running Nougat 7.0 with the September security update.
gorilla p said:
I saw this on the latest Amazon Fire tablet and that's why I returned it. Now you see why I was hesitant.
I'm having a hard time deciding now, but I'm going there will be some solid $399 deals between Black Friday and Christmas. Otherwise, I might just get a OnePlus 3T.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why the 3T and not the 5T? my brother has the 5 and loves it. i refuse to buy a device without expandable storage so that leaves me with few options....... well, few good options. im just gonna wait till leaks of the HTC U12 start to circulate. if that sucks ill just buy the regular G6.
droidbot1337 said:
why the 3T and not the 5T? my brother has the 5 and loves it. i refuse to buy a device without expandable storage so that leaves me with few options....... well, few good options. im just gonna wait till leaks of the HTC U12 start to circulate. if that sucks ill just buy the regular G6.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just the cost. OnePlus is upping the price with every release and I don't think the OP5 is that much better than the OP3T. Especially since I don't use my phone for anything crazy. My N5X still performs more than good enough for me. I have the GPU underclock and touchboost disabled to improve battery and still no lag at all. I really wish there was another affordable Nexus device. They should've come out with an Android One premium line featuring The 820 or 822 chipset.
I also received my Amazon us997 G6 yesterday. As mentioned earlier, the lock screen ads aren't very intrusive unless there are no other notifications at the time. If there are personal notifications like email, text message, missed phone call, etc. then the Amazon ad takes up about 15% of the lock screen. If no notifications are present, the entire lock screen is an ad. However, also as mentioned before, the double press of the finger print button makes the ads visible for the amount of time it takes to double press.
I run nova launcher and have not been bothered with any ads either.
Coming from big red on their lg g4 and having that special old plan, I did a SIM card chop with some cutlery scissors and made it a nano. Without getting too involved, an app like Foxfi is not needed on this phone. I will be keeping this phone primarily because of this. The price point, limited intrusive ads, 2 year warranty and not needing a special app previously mentioned have made this my newest phone.
Now i just hope lg has rid themselves of the nightmare Bootloop plague that has hit every lg phone that my family has owned.

A few questions for the TMobile Variant

I'm pretty much sold on the thing, since I can unload my 3T at the same time--but a few questions first.
1: Can anyone test Samsung gear watches with the phone? I've read Samsung pay only works if you sideload the gear app, but would prefer it working 100% since I plan on staying unrooted.
2: VPNs have caused some issues on past carrier phones, basically using hotspot data rather than regular data. Can anyone just run a quick test to make sure this isn't the case? Mostly for use of Blokada.
3: Does RCS work? I know TMobile was rolling it out by device, but it seems this would be the perfect time to add it with the 6T.
Thanks!
GiSS88 said:
I'm pretty much sold on the thing, since I can unload my 3T at the same time--but a few questions first.
1: Can anyone test Samsung gear watches with the phone? I've read Samsung pay only works if you sideload the gear app, but would prefer it working 100% since I plan on staying unrooted.
2: VPNs have caused some issues on past carrier phones, basically using hotspot data rather than regular data. Can anyone just run a quick test to make sure this isn't the case? Mostly for use of Blokada.
3: Does RCS work? I know TMobile was rolling it out by device, but it seems this would be the perfect time to add it with the 6T.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Setup my gear s3 and it works perfectly. Everything is sideloaded as you install from the galaxy Wearable app.
2. This device already seems to have a private VPN set up as default, didn't touch it but it gives you the option to add.
3. RCS I'm assuming does not work and depends on tmobile actually activating them over an OTA update.
Addiso said:
1. Setup my gear s3 and it works perfectly. Everything is sideloaded as you install from the galaxy Wearable app.
2. This device already seems to have a private VPN set up as default, didn't touch it but it gives you the option to add.
3. RCS I'm assuming does not work and depends on tmobile actually activating them over an OTA update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply. For the gear stuff, I know it sideload through wear but I had read with the OP6 you had to get S-Pay from an apk mirror. Have you tested pay and it all works?
GiSS88 said:
Thanks for the quick reply. For the gear stuff, I know it sideload through wear but I had read with the OP6 you had to get S-Pay from an apk mirror. Have you tested pay and it all works?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haven't tried it, rocking it right now and it seems fine just when I had my v30. I can verify later on when I go put gas. I'll keep you updated if anything.
Addiso said:
Haven't tried it, rocking it right now and it seems fine just when I had my v30. I can verify later on when I go put gas. I'll keep you updated if anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, appreciate it!
I'm pretty disappointed that RCS nor the Samsung/LG version work. It is super important to me, believe it or not. I'm hoping they release an update for this to work sometime soon.
cd85233 said:
I'm pretty disappointed that RCS nor the Samsung/LG version work. It is super important to me, believe it or not. I'm hoping they release an update for this to work sometime soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's silly, I agree. Since it's a carrier backed phone it should be available from the get go.
GiSS88 said:
It's silly, I agree. Since it's a carrier backed phone it should be available from the get go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I got a feeling they maybe rushed this release a bit? They've never released with tmobile. Well see.
cd85233 said:
Yea I got a feeling they maybe rushed this release a bit? They've never released with tmobile. Well see.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a TMobile issue not OP, sadly. No idea why they're doing it in stages and by phone.
My TMobile version does not have the hold power button down to activate Google Assistant feature. Is everyone else missing this?
I got some tmobile variant questions aswell?
Im from México but my brother is on vacation in USS.. in thinking on buying the oneplus but im a little confused about unlocking the phone... Some people say i have to use it with tmobile for 40 days to be able to unlock it even if i make the full pay for it.. othe people say you can unlock it the same day you full pay for it with the tmobile app..
So, can someone confirm who is correct with this because i wont like my brother to buy me the phone and then cant use it because of locked sim..
Also another question.. do you know if later we could install the international firmware on the tmobile version and get the updates directly from oneplus??
Enviado desde mi ONEPLUS A5010 mediante Tapatalk
renehd2 said:
I got some tmobile variant questions aswell?
Im from México but my brother is on vacation in USS.. in thinking on buying the oneplus but im a little confused about unlocking the phone... Some people say i have to use it with tmobile for 40 days to be able to unlock it even if i make the full pay for it.. othe people say you can unlock it the same day you full pay for it with the tmobile app..
So, can someone confirm who is correct with this because i wont like my brother to buy me the phone and then cant use it because of locked sim..
Also another question.. do you know if later we could install the international firmware on the tmobile version and get the updates directly from oneplus??
Enviado desde mi ONEPLUS A5010 mediante Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) SIM Unlocking:
YMMV,only way you'll know for certain is trying it yourself. My recent experiences w/Customer Care lead me to believe they'll accommodate you.
2) Int'l ROM flashing onto a T-Mobile variant.
No,that is not possible. Perhaps some aftermarket ROM will be available later,but,no ,not at this time,official,or,otherwise.
Updates will come from T-Mobile.
If you're gonna buy it outright,why bother w/T-Mobile anyway,just skip the hassles & go for the unlocked version.....................
KOLIOSIS said:
1) SIM Unlocking:
YMMV,only way you'll know for certain is trying it yourself. My recent experiences w/Customer Care lead me to believe they'll accommodate you.
2) Int'l ROM flashing onto a T-Mobile variant.
No,that is not possible. Perhaps some aftermarket ROM will be available later,but,no ,not at this time,official,or,otherwise.
Updates will come from T-Mobile.
If you're gonna buy it outright,why bother w/T-Mobile anyway,just skip the hassles & go for the unlocked version.....................
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because TMobile will allow you to buy the phone for 280 out the door with an approved trade-in device.
This is my current situation....I like to tinker and flash ROMs/mods. Hopefully if I end up with the Tmo version, I'll still be able to flash custom ROMs once development gets going for the device.
Pain-N-Panic said:
Because TMobile will allow you to buy the phone for 280 out the door with an approved trade-in device.
This is my current situation....I like to tinker and flash ROMs/mods. Hopefully if I end up with the Tmo version, I'll still be able to flash custom ROMs once development gets going for the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah,I get it regarding $$$ incentives,but,the person I was responding to it seemed that time/urgency was an equally,if not more,a pressing issue.
KOLIOSIS said:
Yeah,I get it regarding $$$ incentives,but,the person I was responding to it seemed that time/urgency was an equally,if not more,a pressing issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah, I gotcha.
KOLIOSIS said:
Yeah,I get it regarding $$$ incentives,but,the person I was responding to it seemed that time/urgency was an equally,if not more,a pressing issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah the problem is that my brother. Cannot wait to receive the international model via mail because he is coming back to mexico tuesday
Enviado desde mi ONEPLUS A5010 mediante Tapatalk
Well it looks like I'll be ordering from OP directly. It seems if I pay 280 and get the device I'll still pay 12 dollars and change a month until I hit the 570 mark to have the device "paid in full." I guess the 300 dollars goes towards savings on the bill. I read comments on here saying even if you buy the phone from TMobile, in order to "buy it outright" you still have to pay the full price of the phone. I need an unlocked bootloader and root so I guess I'll just pay OP directly.
Pain-N-Panic said:
Well it looks like I'll be ordering from OP directly. It seems if I pay 280 and get the device I'll still pay 12 dollars and change a month until I hit the 570 mark to have the device "paid in full." I guess the 300 dollars goes towards savings on the bill. I read comments on here saying even if you buy the phone from TMobile, in order to "buy it outright" you still have to pay the full price of the phone. I need an unlocked bootloader and root so I guess I'll just pay OP directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's really only a good deal if you're already or going to stay a T-Mobile customer. You wait a couple of months for the billing discount to kick in and you pay off your device in full. After that you'll still get your discount every month and you'll be able to unlock your sim card and unlock your bootloader.
hartleyshc said:
Yeah it's really only a good deal if you're already or going to stay a T-Mobile customer. You wait a couple of months for the billing discount to kick in and you pay off your device in full. After that you'll still get your discount every month and you'll be able to unlock your sim card and unlock your bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a TMobile customer and plan on staying with them. Flashing the latest updates is kind of a big deal to me....I've been a Nexus/pixel user for years and am not use to being locked down by carrier restrictions when it comes to unlocking devices. I just don't feel like dealing with the clutter and hassle of having sift through the carrier's rules before doing what I want with my phone.
Pain-N-Panic said:
I am a TMobile customer and plan on staying with them. Flashing the latest updates is kind of a big deal to me....I've been a Nexus/pixel user for years and am not use to being locked down by carrier restrictions when it comes to unlocking devices. I just don't feel like dealing with the clutter and hassle of having sift through the carrier's rules before doing what I want with my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree, and I'm the exact same way. I've been on T-Mobile forever and have had a Nexus device since the Nexus 4. I had a Galaxy 4 for work and hated it.
This is my first carrier device pretty much ever. Before the Nexus 4 I was using the HTC HD2 and before that I was using Palm Windows and Palm OS devices.
Pretty much the way I see it is if this is too much of a pain, I can always sell it and go with my original plan of getting a used Pixel 2 XL on swappa.
I'll give it a chance. The price was just too good to pass. And I'm fairly confident in OP's laziness on locking down this phone. I have a feeling it will be pretty simple to swap over to the international rom, and if not, at most we'll have to wait a day for someone to repack the official rom removing the modem and/or bootloader. And if not, on to swappa it goes.

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